4 Companies Made Illegal Donations To Everett Mayoral Campaign, State Officials Find
Four commercial real estate and contracting companies are under fire from the state of Massachusetts for allegedly making illegal donations as part of a 2025 mayoral race in Everett, just north of Boston.
The companies illegally donated to former Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria's failed reelection campaign, accounting for $19,500 in contributions, according to March 19 letters sent by state officials to the companies.
State regulators are requiring the companies to pay roughly $39K in penalties, The Boston Globe first reported.
The four companies are Cranston, Rhode Island-based architecture shop Millwork One Inc., construction company Island Facades, electrical contracting firm State Electric LLC and Malden multifamily landlord United Properties.
The contributions were made by employees of the four companies through the digital campaign fundraising platform ActBlue, which often raises money for candidates and causes aligned with the Democratic Party, as well as other progressive causes and candidates.
The state said the companies reimbursed employees who donated money to the campaign. Massachusetts doesn't allow personal contributions to be made in the name of another individual or company. Companies also can't "directly or indirectly" donate to any specific candidate under state law.
In the four cases, donations were said to have been made in a personal capacity with no ties to the companies. However, the state found that the companies reimbursed their employees after making the donations.
The most money paid back came from Malden landlord United Properties, which reimbursed eight employees who gave a total of $6,500 toward the campaign. The company has paid $13K back to the state to resolve the matter.
Four Millwork One employees each made $1K contributions to DeMaria's campaign. The company paid $8K back to the state.
Similarly, four State Electric workers donated the maximum donation of $1K, resulting in penalties of $8K paid to the state.
Five Island Facades workers, including CEO Edward Harms, donated $1K each to the campaign, totaling $5K. The company paid $10K to the state.
None of the four companies responded to Bisnow's requests for comment.
DeMaria's campaign is also being forced to return the funds it received. State regulators have "no reason to believe" DeMaria's campaign knew of the illegal activity.
DeMaria, who served as Everett's mayor for 18 years, lost his reelection bid in November to Robert Van Campen. His campaign raised $682K, while the Van Campen campaign brought in $74K, according to public campaign finance records.
DeMaria was influential in transforming Everett from what was an underinvested industrial hub into a sprawling mixed-use community with thousands of housing units and Wynn Resorts' Encore Boston Harbor.
However, DeMaria was in hot water in February when a state audit found that he received $180K in so-called longevity payments between 2016 and 2025. The Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General alleged that DeMaria's administration hid the payments from the city council and the public.
DeMaria has consistently denied wrongdoing regarding the payments and disputes the audit's findings.
